Beta Course in Conservation Management

allerton Project, leicester awoolford@gwct.org.uk per cent on last year when Defra recorded 1,011,000 incidents. most of the loads dumped were of “small van” size with “car boot or smaller” sized loads coming second. Household waste such as furniture, white goods and DIY waste was the most commonly dumped category of rubbish, with trade waste making up a small percentage of the total. and failure to dispose properly of fly-tipped rubbish can lead to fines for illegally storing waste. In 2017, one landowner was left facing a bill of more than £100,000 after 250 tonnes of rubbish were dumped on his land.

The situation facing landowners was described by Countryside alliance head of policy Sarah lee as “an injustice that means those who are the victims of fly-tipping also have a responsibility to dispose of the waste legally”.

Shooting Times reader Sean Jones, who lives on the edge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, frequently encounters fly-tipped waste. “Every time I visit my local syndicate shoot I will find something dumped,” he said. “Garden waste is the most common thing I see dumped, often a couple of black bags.”

But the problem can be much more severe. He added: “I’ve seen gateways completely blocked with tipped rubble, which causes really serious issues for farmers trying to access land.”

Sean told Shooting Times that the ministry of Defence is active in trying to keep fly-tipping under control on the Plain, but that most of the work of clearing up is done by landowners, shoot operators and local volunteers.

Matt Cross